Akitio T3TGAA0008Y000 T3-10G: (Thunderbolt3 to 10G Adapter with Intel Alpine Ridge + Aquantia AQC107S) Electronics

I purchased this for my Dell Precision 7720 and Precision 5530 to connect to a Ubiquiti switch that has SFP+ ports to a Synology NAS. I used a Ubiquiti copper transceiver and existing CAT5e cable ran about 30 feet. It took a few hours of diagnosing because I was getting a 10GB connection but the transceiver was showing RX failure and the computers were not getting an IP address. I was trying to figure out if it was an issue with the Ubiquiti transceiver, the cable, computer, or cable. I tried several CAT6 runs that we're added after construction and it just wouldn't take it. Surprisingly a CAT5e port that was in the room which was added during construction worked perfectly. Just goes to show some CAT6 cable purchased on Amazon can be junk. The builders CAT5e actually worked! Transferring large files via SMB protocol yielded average of 350 MB/s with peaks of 420 MB/s to the NAS. Over the 10 minutes of transfer the write speed fluctuated heavily between 300-400 MB/s and occasionally dropped into the high 200's. The device has a great build quality and the silicone bumper on the outside which keeps it nicely planted on the desk. With it connected and idle, the outside is pretty warm. It had idle temperatures of 108 degrees Fahrenheit, according to an infrared thermometer, and stayed at that temperature during a 250GB file transfer. I wish it wasn't as warm but the silicone bumper keeps it off the desk and allows better cooling. Having a removable thunderbolt cable is a big positive when compared to other options. One thing I disliked was that if any connection below 10gb occurred, the indicator lights were green instead of orange, but you don't know the exact connection rate unless you view the details of the network adapter. I wish it had a different indicator color for each of the 10/5/2.5/1Gb throughputs. Another annoyance was it is not plug and play, so I couldn't just plug any random computer in. I had to download drivers from their website. The drivers were not available from Windows Update, and I have no idea why the manufacturer wouldn't publish these drivers to Windows Update to make the process seamless; it's not that difficult to do and most hardware manufacturers already do this. The last annoyance was the time it takes to connect. When plugging it into the thunderbolt port the computer immediately recognizes it but it then takes 10 seconds for the connection to negotiate and lights start flashing. Overall I'm happy with the purchase and can't wait to rewire to CAT8 which I have lying around and see if the transfer speed is more consistent.

It works well but do be aware the T3-10G draws 15watts from the Thunderbolt 3 interface. This can restrict use of additional dongles that require significant power and will impact battery life of portables. Is not backward compatible with Thunderbolt 1/2 computers even with an adapter because of the large power requirement.Carbon Copy Cloner and scp can push over 200 MBytes/second (encrypted) per job and well over 600 MBytes/second (encrypted) aggregate for 3 or more simultaneous jobs. Very nice!

I bought both the Akitio T3-10G and a Netgear GS110MX Switch (which features 2 10GbE ports). The goal was to connect my PC to my NAS which is already equipped with 10GbE ports - all at 10GbE. Ever since installing this, my network periodically shuts down all traffic (every 3-4 days). Initially, I was resetting my router, and clearing everything to make it come back. Next, I found I could just reset the Netgear switch, and my network would come back again. Now, I just did a test where I unplugged the Akitio Thunderbolt 3 adapter from the Netgear switch, and my network functions were restored, without resetting the switch.I initially blamed the switch for all these woes and got a replacement sent from Netgear, but the same problem has now returned with the new switch. I've now unplugged the Akitio adapter from my PC, downgrading my PC back to its integrated 1GbE port.In any case - either the Akitio adapter doesn't like the Netgear switch, or the Netgear switch doesn't like the Akitio adapter. Since Netgear has already replaced my switch once, I'm leaning towards this being an Akitio problem.I've also experimented with upgrading to the next version driver and firmware found on the Aquantia website, and this newer driver wreaks havoc on the Akitio adapter - making it fail very quickly. Being a long-time computer hardware guy, I'm losing faith in the Akitio/Aquantia Thunderbolt 3 solution, and I'm having a lot of second thoughts about the choices I've made. Maybe I should have stuck with a brand I can trust. And a network chipset I can trust.I can honestly say when this 10GbE stuff works, it has fabulous transfer speeds, but it brings down my entire home network 1-2 times a week, and I cannot handle that level of instability in my connected home.

I use this primarily for testing 10g+ LANs, for backing up computers to our SAN, and general network load testing. Usually, I have this hanging off a new MacBook Pro. First off, it's plug and play. Just open the box, pull out the sturdy aluminum case, and it just works. Second, it physically feels solid. Solid, in a way that indicates that the rubber guard they have surrounding the aluminum case is there to protect you, from the adapter, because the adapter doesn't really care about your puny sandaled toes. They also include a silicone rubber cable strap wrap to keep the included black thunderbolt 3 cable restrained. It's nice, reusable, but try not to accidentally lock your thumbs together with it. There is no passthrough thunderbolt connector, so this really works best on Macbooks with more than one Thunderbolt port.Lastly, it gets warm. It has large ventilation cutouts, and it gets warm enough that you go "Oh, that thing is warm!", but you never even consider going "This thing is going to burn someone or thing". Just keep it ventilated..